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Beyond Cloud Nine
Those who love a good, solid science-fiction story won’t be disappointed with Greg Spry’s Beyond Cloud Nine. Spry maps out a futuristic Earth where humans have expanded their reach and colonized other planets. Our protagonist is Brooke Davis, a young fighter pilot who is the best of her generation. A child born from a Japanese mother and an American father, Brooke has faced discrimination her entire life. Add to the fact that she suffers from a disorder caused by gene therapy before her birth and Brooke screams protagonist. It’s almost as if she knows she’s the star of the novel but what Brooke has to overcome before she can confidently say she has saved the day is both tragic and exhausting. Expending all of her faculties to uncover a surprise conspiracy while reconnecting with her estranged twin sister and niece, Brooke powers forward in this exciting tale where science meets fiction.
Despite first appearances, Brooke is not a strong female lead. She’s battered, bordering on completely broken in both body and soul. Never forgiving herself for the hand she played in her father’s death our protagonist runs away from the things that she can’t handle. This includes her twin sister, who she left behind on Earth six years before the book begins to pursue her profession as a pilot for the United Nations. While she is good at what she does, it is not without a cost. We discover quite early on that Brooke is addicted to illegally enhancing her body with a drug referred to as “Sparks”. It is only after breaking a colleague’s nose Brooke returns to her sister and attempts at reconciliation.
There are many ways a science-fiction tale can go wrong. Over exaggerated feats of science and unrealistic explanations of technology have doomed many a series. Beyond Cloud Nine does not suffer from either of these faults no doubt in part to Spry’s real life experience with engineering and space systems. His control over the craft of story-telling uses these skills and experiences to explain what is happening in an amateur-friendly fashion. No over the top jargon or complicated explanations to detract from the story at hand.
During Brooke’s journey from almost-washed up pilot to practical savior of the planet readers will watch her grow and develop into something that resembles a human being, complete with feelings and emotions. In the beginning Brooke is too broken to connect properly with those around her. Even when she first reconnects with her sister after a six-year absence she has troubles interacting on a human level. She’s angry, confused and as lost as a teenager trying to figure out what makes them, them.
Readers will surely enjoy this first installment to the Beyond saga penned by Greg Spry. Brooke overcomes some of her faults while retaining others and that allows readers to feel more connected to her; because she’s real. Beyond Cloud Nine delivers with action, compelling character development and realistic explanations for technology that doesn’t quite exist yet in our present time. Or does it?
Pages: 360 | ASIN: B00NOFZ16Q
The Eyes Behold Tomorrow
The Eyes Behold Tomorrow by Ken Hart is fast moving action filled fantasy novel. Ken Hart describes his writing perfectly, “believable, without incredibly ridiculous situations that suddenly appear to solve all the character’s problems” (Hart p166). This novel merges human and a race called the Feletian into an intertwined future encompassing alliances and some galactic waring with other races. Feletian is a matriarchal society where the men are claimed into what are called stables. Women rule and men are expected to defer to them in almost every situation. They are also known for their peace keeping ways. They are non-violent and only use force when absolutely necessary. The two main characters are Robert Teach, a millionaire playboy from Earth, and Kamini a Feletian recruiter and Princess from Feletia. The two of them end up having a volatile relationship with good and bad moments, but always working together for what is in the best interest of Feletia, even if their views and tactics don’t always agree. Robert is a hot shot that likes to shoot first and ask questions later, Kamini prefers a more peaceful approach and always looks to see the good in others.
The story starts out with the recruiting of men from Earth. Typically, the Feletian’s were looking at the best military men Earth had to offer when Kamini approached Robert and asked him to join up. Having nothing better to do with his life at that point he agreed. The character of Robert is your typical arrogant playboy that thinks he knows it all and doesn’t take orders well. He makes an enemy in the first few days with another recruit, Desaris. Robert and Deasaris’s relationship is almost as interesting as Robert and Kamini. They might not like each other but will have to work together to save the Feletian’s and ultimately Earth from the alien races known as the Lyonians and eventually the Grrulagan.
Queen Aphelia is the peace keeper; she takes great interest in Robert from the start. In reference to the title, The Eyes Behold Tomorrow, some of the women of Feletia have what they call the gift. This is an ability to see into the future. She sees Robert’s future and his importance to her world. Because of this, she puts up with a lot from him, his lack of conforming to protocol, and his unorthodox, by their standards, tactics in just about every area of this life. He is a great commander and becomes the captain of their new prototype space craft. His role as captain makes things challenging as his relationship with Kamini and her family grows. Robert develops a strong attachment to Kamini’s little sister Princess Selena. This attachment starts showing Robert there is more to the world than himself and what he wants to do, he starts thinking critically and growing. The transformation in Robert is dramatic by the end, but not so much he loses his charm. Kamini proves to be a strong leader and capable of enduring the worst the world throws at her. Together they set out to create peace in the galaxy they reside in.
Overall the world that Hart has created is original and captivating. The strong female roles show how women can be strong and nurturing and still rule without faltering. I think this book would appeal to a wide variety of readers, science fiction lovers, people looking for strong independent women fiction, and anyone that just want a little less outlandish science fiction. The book does not have happy resolutions, there is no perfect bow to wrap up the story line. The book is open ended enough to leave room for sequels but even if Hart does not continue this story line, there is a satisfying ending. It does end on a happy note for those that want a book that can stand on its own.
Pages: 274 | ISBN: 1629891177
Hungry Monster Book Awards: August 2016
The Hungry Monster Book Awards are given to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and The Hungry Monster is proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
Jabberwocky: A Novella by Theodore Singer
Silver Award Winners
Milijun by Clayton Graham
Derailed by Alyssa Rosy Ivy
Bar Nights by Dave Matthes
Death of a Gypsy by Janet Hannah
Mervyn vs. Dennis by Niels Saunders
Stage Door Comedies by Sally Roger
Asana of Malevolence by Kate Abbott
In the Eyes of Madness by Michael Pang
Welcome to Deep Cove by Grant T. Reed
The Six and the Crystals if Ialana by Katlynn Brooke
Thing Bailiwick: A Collection of Horror by Fawn Bonning
Tarbabies: The Shadow Man of Ichabod Lane by Allen Brady
Books have the ability to entertain and inform us. They can make the impossible possible. They are vehicles of time travel and windows into perspectives. In books, authors are gods and imagination is their power. Transforming letters into words; words into characters and places; and these into emotions and worlds. Even if we never meet, we are connected by the stories we tell.
Visit the Hungry Monster Book Awards page to see more information on the awards. See all award winners.
Review: Science Fiction
Amidst the booming prosperity of 1950’s America people go about their daily routines unaware of how completely their lives are about to change. General Preston Hardgrave is the only person that has had a glimpse at what is to come. He’s in charge of a government project studying the Collapsing Ring-Field Theory that was headed by Dr. Albert Einstein. To get the project going again Hardgrave must recruit an old friend and physics professor, Glen Hardisty, to continue Einstein’s work. Glen soon learns that the technology for the ring is other worldly, but the search for the technology’s source is muted when colossal alien ships emerge from space and hover over every major city. Alien soldiers are on every street corner around the world; standing, waiting. No one knows what they’re waiting for, but it’s quickly clear that the Collapsing Ring-Field is no longer a theory. It is now humanities last hope.
This novel succeeds in its ability to deliver quality science fiction that is not only entertaining, but thought provoking. Much of the novel is written with a 1950’s era flare that takes you back to the period of campy science fiction novels. The ending of the novel reminds me of many Twilight Zone episodes. And in those moments where the narration captures the feel so perfectly I can almost hear Rod Serling’s voice in my head. The story follows three story lines that converge towards the end of the novel. General Hardgrave and professor Hardisty are locked in a government building in the center of New York with hundreds of research personnel. There’s a pack of secretaries roaming the streets of New York that manage to take out a few alien soldiers. And the last remnant of the US Army is a squad of soldiers that are determined to make one last strike at the alien invaders. Their stories converge at the end of the novel in a daring and thrilling turn of events. Although the writing was solid, the story often went off on tangents that did very little to progress the story. There are a few chapters where we follow some survivors that General Hardgrave sends out for food. I see how this is technically necessary, but I don’t see how it deserves its own chapters. It could have simply been summed up in a paragraph to keep the quick pace of the story. And some of the dialogue, although it may fall in line with the 50’s style writing, seems cheesy by today’s standards, but these moments were rare. The thing that captured my imagination were the rare moments when the aliens tried to speak our language. It comes out unintelligible, but still oddly poetic. What really stood out to me was the ending of the story, or really the reason why the aliens came to Earth in the first place. It was a unique idea that I’ve not heard or read before. It’s definitely an ending that makes this novel worth the read.
ASIN: B00RI7R718
Pages: 299
